Plan the Perfect Sales Kickoff Meeting

Your 2018 SKO is a critical component for the upcoming year’s success.

They give your sales organization the opportunity to:

Set the tone and vision for the year

Establish sales goals

Engage the sales force through knowledge-sharing

Share new product and sales strategies information

Encourage face-to-face team-building

Reward last year’s effort

Build excitement

But not every SKO will achieve all of these amazing benefits. In order to reap the benefits, you need to put in the planning effort. Make sure you plan your 2018 SKO for optimal success by using the following tips.

Set High Level Goals

Every successful SKO has four parts. Each of the component is essential to generating a positive ROI on time and money invested. Consider each of the parts below when setting high level goals and plans:

Event goals

ROI and budgeting

Themes

Sales enablement efforts

The most successful 2018 SKOs will blend each of these components into one seamless event.

Focus on the Agenda

Your SKO agenda can make or break your event. You can set yourself up to deliver a powerful message through engaging activities, or schedule a snoozefest. All strong SKO agendas should include:

Review of sales

Company direction

Marketing updates

Department updates

Product review

Competitive review

Social time

Sales-focused sessions

Guest keynote speaker

Call to action

Don’t forget to start high-level, have a get emcee and end sessions with a social hour to keep attendees interested.

Include a Follow Up Plan

Your 2018 SKO will be an impactful event, but it’s really about what happens afterwards. When planning the perfect SKO you need to include a strong follow up plan.

One of the best ways to reinforce your SKO messaging is by using technology to make your content easily accessible. Immediately after your event use a sales training solution like LearnCore to deliver content like:

Presentation decks

Brochures

Training guides

Product manuals

Video training

With easy access to your SKO content you can ensure your team will keep the momentum going all year long.

Leave Some Stuff Behind

While you’ll be mostly focused on what TO include in your 2018 SKO there are some things you’ll want to leave behind too.

Forget about long PowerPoint presentations, and forcing your audience to sit still. Salespeople like to move and interact. PowerPoint’s lead to the ultimate snoozefest which will mean low interaction and low retention.

You should also avoid product launches, or other informational launches that require too large of an information download in one time period. You can’t expect too much of your sales reps without burning them out. Keep it short and sweet.

Your 2018 SKO can be the starting point for an amazing year. Take every opportunity to max out your ROI with tactful planning using the tips above.